Quashie a good, wise soul

Ahkenaton Quashie will always be remembered as a good soul who showed wisdom and love beyond his years. So eulogised Quashie’s aunt, Alrica Quashie-Stewart at Tuesday’s funeral service the Mt Grace Open Bible church, Mt Grace.

“In his years on planet earth he demonstrated wisdom, knowledge, understanding, love and care beyond his years. He often said ‘don’t fight life’ and one of his favourite bible verses was ‘not even the dogs that piss against the walls of Jerusalem can escape the wrath of almighty God’,” said Quashie-Stewart.

She stressed on the love he had for his mother Yvette Quashie, fiancé Rayneese Viava and his daughters.

“No one could understand the magnitude of Rayneese (fiancée) loss, she calmly told me ‘I cannot describe (the pain) it has to be experienced.’

“Regardless of his personal commitment he made time to lend a helping hand and an ear to others…. He made a difference when he joined T&TEC but sadly they have lost a friend, a colleague, a support and a mentor. Obviously, his position will be filled but he as an individual will never be replaced.”

Quashie, 32, a father of two, originally from Golden Lane, Coffee Piece, was killed by a falling tree branch on August 10 during a tree trimming exercise in Les Coteaux. A subsequent autopsy revealed he suffered severe brain and skull injuries. Hundreds of mourners packed the church on Tuesday, spilling out onto the street, to bid farewell to their relative, friend and colleague.

Also speaking at the service, Courtenay Mark, acting General Manager of the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC), described the incident as a tragic loss for the company, promising that the company will provide any assistance necessary to the family. Mark commended Quashie for being an effective and hard worker.

Also present at the funeral service was T&TEC’s General Manager Kelvin Ramsook, colleagues of Quashie and representatives from the Oil Workers Trade Union (OWTU).

OWTU’s Peter Burke said Quashie made an important impact on all who knew him.

“We will work with the Commission to ensure his fiancé and children are taken care of. I want to pay some special attention to the brother of Akenaton, Akini, because he actually saw the accident that took his brother’s life, and to compound it, he would have seen an accident that would have injured another person, who survived. These things are not easy to erase, and we need to understand, we have to support him, that’s our responsibility as a community,” Burke said.

Quashie was laid to rest at the Plymouth public cemetery.